Hughes, Longfellow, Sandburg Poetry

Hughes, Longfellow, Sandburg Poetry

By Paula Rein

​Reading: Connect the Details to Draw a Conclusion

A conclusion is a decision or an opinion that you reach after considering the details in a literary work. Connecting the details can help you draw conclusions as you read.

For example, if the speaker in a poem uses the words tacks, splinters, boards, bare, and dark, you might conclude that he or she wishes to create an image of hardship. As you read, identify important details. Then, look at the details together and draw a conclusion about the poem or the speaker.

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Open Ended

“Mother to Son”:

• The speaker describes the staircase she has climbed: it had tacks, splinters, bare boards, and places with no light.

• The speaker is still climbing.

Open Ended

“The Village Blacksmith”:

• On the blacksmith’s brow is “honest sweat.”

• The blacksmith “owes not any man.”

• The blacksmith works long and hard.

Open Ended

“Fog”:

• The fog arrives “on little cat feet.”

• The fog sits “on silent haunches.”

• The fog looks “over harbor and city / . . . and then moves on.”

​Literary Analysis: Figurative Language

Figurative language is language that is not meant to be taken literally. Writers use figures of speech to express ideas in vivid and imaginative ways. Common figures of speech include the following:

•A simile compares two unlike things using a word such as like or as.

•A metaphor compares two unlike things by stating that one thing is another thing. In an extended metaphor, several related comparisons extend over a number of lines.

• Personification gives human characteristics to a nonhuman subject.

•A symbol is an object, a person, an animal, a place, or an image that represents something else.

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Multiple Choice

Who is “honey” in the following line from “Mother to Son”?

For I’se still goin’, honey

• the landlord

• the employer

• the mother

• the son

Multiple Choice

Which details in “Mother to Son” point to the conclusion that the mother has

had a hard life?

• She declares that she has been “a-climbin’ on.”

• She says that life has had “tacks in it, / And splinters.”

• She warns, “Don’t you set down on the steps.”

• She has been “reachin’ landin’s, / And turnin’ corners.”

Multiple Choice

What is the speaker’s message in “Mother to Son”?

• Sit and rest once in a while.

• Strive to climb crystal stairs.

• Keep trying no matter what.

• Walk on carpeted floors.

Multiple Choice

Which of your senses can best help you picture this passage from “The Village

Blacksmith”?

Under a spreading chestnut tree / The village smithy stands; / The smith, a mighty

man is he, / With large and sinewy hands.

• sight

• hearing

• taste

• touch

Multiple Choice

Which kind of figurative language is represented by these lines from “The Village

Blacksmith”?

You can hear him swing his heavy sledge ,... / Like a sexton ringing the village bell.

• simile

• metaphor

• symbolism

• personification

Multiple Choice

Why does the blacksmith in “The Village Blacksmith” weep when his daughter

sings?

• She has a beautiful voice.

• He loves music.

• She has overcome hardships.

• He is reminded of her mother.

Multiple Choice

Which details in “The Village Blacksmith” lead you to conclude that the blacksmith is a good man?

I. He works hard.

II. He is dependable.

III. He sits in church with his sons.

IV. He rejoices when he hears his daughter sing.

• I

• I and II

• III and IV

• I, II, III, and IV

Multiple Choice

Which statement best expresses the main point of “The Village Blacksmith”?

• A strong man is capable of loving his wife and children.

• Although he appears to be strong, the blacksmith is weak.

• Honesty, love, and hard word help us get through life.

• A blacksmith is likely to be the most honest man in town.

Multiple Choice

To which animal is the fog compared in “Fog”?

• a lion

• a tiger

• a cat

• a dog

Multiple Choice

Which word best describes the fog in the poem “Fog”?

• noisy

• silent

• spooky

• transparent

Multiple Choice

Which kind of figurative language is used in “Fog”?

• simile

• symbol

• extended metaphor

• personification